Terence James McGinity London, United Kingdom
My love of stone started on a course at Tout Quarry, Portland Bill, Dorset in 1995. 28 years later I have carved 100s of pieces and mounted my own Exhibitions in London. I also work with wood and concrete. I also worked as an actor and teacher of children with emotional difficulties and all this feeds into the theme of my sculpture: Attachment, Separation and Loss.
Each type of stone and each type of wood is different. I approach each medium uniquely, so to speak. There are so many factors influencing what and how I carve. With stone it’s the shape, size (and of course, weight), texture and colour that I consider. Does it fit with my design? And I choose which material to work with as it arises and whatever is available. Despite its seeming solidity I consider stone is quite fragile and lends itself to a sense of vulnerability especially when the subject is in their own world without the need to mask or put on an appearance. Each stone has a big say in what I want to carve. The same goes for wood. With concrete I can do what I want. I keep visiting Rembrandt’s late self portrait at Kenwood House. Hampstead. It doesn’t just try to extend the boundaries of Form. It mirrors the depths of the artist’s soul; the light, the shade and the shadows. The Art World always seems to be searching for break throughs of form and style. The history of art is speckled with such leaps from Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Matisse, Brancusi, Picasso and hundreds of others to our present times. So, does my sculpture push the boundaries of what is possible? I believe it does. But internally and as Hamlet says “to hold a mirror up to nature and show the very age and body of the time its form and pressure”. A reflection of our contemporary world. Attachment and Separation are the foundations of my work. Just look at the world and see it all on show there even in its most gory forms. I firmly defend the right of expression. Artistic expression is a humane response to an often-inhumane world. Playfulness, as defined by Picasso, is an essential ingredient of creation.
